Do you find running a business overwhelming? Do you struggle to find the time to work ON your business as opposed to just in it?

Shelagh Cummins is a business coach and consultant specializing in helping women build and grow their businesses. Shelagh and I see a lot of business owners struggling with overwhelm. There is so much for business owners to do and so many wheels that need to be in alignment that it can be tricky to know where to focus without tipping the cart.

Do a brain dump

Take a piece of paper and do a brain dump of everything that is swimming around in your brain. Business owners carry so much in their brain from day-to-day that it’s important to put it down on paper. Don’t worry about organizing it – just get it out to get some clarity! Think about the one thing that will have the most amount of impact for you, your family and your business. What do you need the most of right now? This creates a priority list of what you need the most of: is it revenue, a better team, a marketing plan? What is it that you need that will have a domino affect on everything else?

Once this is out put it on a wall in front of you and start crossing off the things that are irrelevant or not that important. Then find the pieces that help you fill the immediate need. What are the milestones that you need to get done to get you the results you want the most? Do you need to hire help? Do you need to send an email to your mailing list?

Shelagh’s Productive! Planner helps you determine what you want the most and then determines the hurdles you need to get through to get there. Once you have the milestones, you then have to lay out the actions you need to take to get that end result. Once you have this figured out, just sit with it and be quiet with it, before you take any action at all.

Figure out your "one thing"

There is going to be many “gears” or things that you want to get done. But think about what needs to come first – what one gear or wheel needs to turn to make the others work? For example, if your one thing is to earn more revenue, then you need more clients and in order to get more clients you may need to ramp up your marketing strategies. It’s a matter of looking at all the conflicting pieces and figuring out which one is going to fuel the other ones. Focus on that ONE first.

Build out your plan

What is the end result of your project or goal? Why is that important to you? If you set a goal then you need to anchor it in something important. For example, if you want to earn more revenue don’t think of it in terms of a number, think of it in terms of what you will be able to do with that number. It allows you to derive from a place of purpose. For example, if you make $5000 you will be able to hire someone to help you grow your business or take a dream vacation.

Reach milestones

How do you get to that goal? What milestones do you have to reach to get there? If your goal is to reach a certain number, such as $5000 – think about how many services or products you have to sell to reach that number. Is it a matter of raising the quantity or products or services, increasing the price or decreasing the production costs? What do you have to do to sell that much of that product or service? Is it being more visible on social media or networking more? What has to happen for you to get the end result?

We don’t allow ourselves the time to plan forward. We instead focus on tasks that keep us busy, but don’t necessarily work on tasks that will move our businesses forward. It doesn’t have to be this way. By being quiet and strategic about the actions you take each and every day, you allow yourself the momentum needed to get to your end goal. Planning is key.

Make power moves

Power moves are strategic and intentional actions. For example, scrolling Facebook mindlessly is not a power move – calling a client you haven’t heard from in awhile – that’s a power move. It’s an action that can pack a lot of punch.

Plan your day with intention

Start your day in a place of quiet. Visualize your day before it starts – walk through it in your head so you are ready and prepared for your day. Then recognize that one, nonnegotiable thing that needs to be done that day in order to be successful.

Ask yourself how you’re going to be powerful today or empathetic today – figure out who you need to be that day to get whatever your one thing is, done.

Prioritize your actions every day. It allows you to focus on what is important. Give yourself permission to be human and celebrate what you did accomplish and understand that what you didn’t accomplish will still be there tomorrow.